Nissan now 'the most likely candidate' to be in talks about Apple Car

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What you need to know

Nissan is the latest automaker to get pulled into the Apple Car rumors.
The company's CEO expressed interest in a potential partnership during a quarterly press conference.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Nissan may be the latest automaker to throw their hat in the ring for a potential Apple Car partnership. Makoto Uchida, Nissan's Chief Executive Officer, was asked about a potential partnership with Apple at a press conference on Tuesday. Uchida responded by saying that Nissan needs to "work with companies that are knowledgeable, with good experience, through partnership and collaboration."

Nissan is the latest car maker to signal its openness to a deal. As technology transforms the auto industry, "we need to take new initiatives" and "work with companies that are knowledgeable, with good experience, through partnership and collaboration," said Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida on Tuesday. This was in response to a question about his willingness to partner with Apple at a press conference to discuss the Japanese car maker's quarterly results.

Source: Ted Kritsonis / iMore

As noted in the report, rumors around a potential partnership with Nissan grew after Hyundai announced that talks with Apple on a potential partnership broke down on Sunday.

Speculation about the established automotive industry's role in an Apple car project has spread since Hyundai dropped the big news that it was in talks with the iPhone maker last month. On Monday, those discussions seemed to have broken down, but Hyundai's stock is still up 23% this year. Apple might not rely on just one supplier, though, and has also held discussions with Japanese manufacturers, according to a report in the Nikkei newspaper last week.

Mio Kato, an equity analyst, says that Nissan is now "the most likely candidate to be in serious discussions with Apple" due to the company's resources as well as having recently overexpanded its operations in the United States.